The World's Greatest Archer!

Hawkeye

#4 Apr

Armed with a high-tech arsenal and the surpassing skill to use them, Clint Barton dons the familiar purple costume and fires justice from his bow.
Stan Lee presents......Hawkeye

"The Journey"

Scott Chamberlain: writer
Van Plexico: Vanlactus

The dark realms of Mephisto. Our bow-slinging hero is here with the USAgent, Swordsman, and Dr. Strange, about to square off against the hordes of Mephisto (as seen in Hawkeye #3, but you alredy read that...- Scott)

"Slay them, my minions! What great sport it will be, and then when their dead, they will be mine! hahahahaha!"

The demonic horde advances on the four heroes. Mandibles clacking, jaws snapping, they rush forth to join the battle.

"Um...now would be a good time for someone to come up with a plan!" said the USAgent "Photon shields ignite!" His power shields formed from their generators on either arm. The Agent sent them hurtling off to wreak havoc in the enemy ranks. "That'll make em think twice about rushing us!"

Hawkeye sent a trio of concussion arrows into the swarming masses, demon bodies went sailing everywhere. The bowman said nothing as he fired. He went about the fight quietly and efficiently. A grim, resigned look on his face.

The Swordsman fired energy bolts from his sword, wreaking much damage among the horde. "Blast it! I knock one down and three more jump over it body to get at us!"

Doctor Strange kept great many of the demons at bay with a wide assortment of eldritch attacks. The magical energy ripped through the hosts of Mephisto, but the Doctor knew all their efforts were for naught. "By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth, this battle is useless! Eventually they will get to us, and we'll be done for! I need time to prepare something else!"

A large black winged demon swooped in toward Strange. It was Areax, general of Mephisto's armies. "Too bad for you wizard, time is a commodity you do not have!" Evading Strange's eldritch bolts, he dove in close and landed a heavy blow to Strange's head, knocking the Sorceror unconscious.

The USAgent fired his photon shields at Azreax, who was cirlcing around for another attack. "We've got to do something Clint! Strange is down and without his power we are gonna die here!" The horde, seeing that Strange was down had renewed its charge on the heroes.

Hawkeye looked around at the hordes, noticing their large ears. "I know what to do." He fired off several sonic arrows, guessing that it would have a tremendous impact on the demons hearing. He guessed right. The arrows flew through the ranks, demons howled in rage and pain as the ultrasonics damaged their already warped brains. Hundreds fell to the ground.

Hawk wasnt finished yet. He fired off a few smoke-arrows, clouding the battlefield with smoke. Vision was cut down to nil. "Now! While they are disoriented, make a break for it! Agent, grab Strange and carry him with us!"

"I'm on it!" said the Agent

The three made their way through the stunned ranks of the demons without being stopped except by the unlucky occasional demon who happened to stumble across them. They made good their escape. For all the good it did them, being trapped in Mephisto's realm.

"Fools!" shouted Mephisto, raging through his disoriented army "The whole of you cannot defeat four men?? You have let them escape, and if I do not get them back you all will surely suffer!"

Demons all over the field cowered in fear before their master, but Azreax approached his lord.

"Master, there is little to fear. We have beaten their most powerful member! There is no where for them to hide. They are trapped here, until we find them."

Mephisto pondered this a moment. "You are right general. Take five of your most powerful lieutenents, and track them down like dogs!"

"It will be done my lord!" Azreax bowed and moved off to chase after the heroes.

Hawkeye, the USAgent and the Swordsman were running down a dark ravine. Trying to stay low and in shadow to avoid being seen by anything. For hours they had been on the move. The Agent still had to carry Strange as the sorceror was still out cold. Finally, Hawkeye came to a stop.

"Enough! We need to take a bit of rest. I'm winded."

The Swordsman flopped to the ground and muttered something incoherent. The Agent stood with Strange still draped across his shoulders, his superior strength and constitution bearing him up better than his two comrades.

"We can't stop long, Hawkeye." he said "Those demons are looking for us and on their turf it wont be long before they find us!"

"You think I dont know that, Jack!?" Hawkeye snarled "But running around isn't gonna help us either. I need time to think of a plan."

"I don't know what we can do, Clint. Bobbi isnt even here and we've got no way out till Strange wakes up."

The Swordsman lifted his head off the ground "Eh? Who says Mockingbird is not here?"

USAgent rolled his eyes "Where were you when Mephisto told Clint? He said it was only a lure to get us here."

The Swordsman shrugged "Since when do we believe anything that demon says? He is universally known for his ability to lie."

Clint looked at the Swordsman intently, as if he hadn't considered this possibility. A gleam came back into his eyes, which had looked dead before. "You might be on to something, Phillip. We're not going anywhere until we are certain one way or another if Bobbi is here."

"But Clint!" said the Agent "We don't know how to use Doc's orb-thing, and we couldn't ever search the whole of this plane in our lifetimes!"

Hawkeye was chewing on his lower lip, thinking. "We don't have to, Jack. If you were Mephisto, where would you want to keep your prize-possesion souls?"

Jack, looked blankly and shook his head. The Swordsman spoke up. "I'd keep them close to me, where I could keep an eye on them."

"Exactly." said Hawkeye. He stood up and looked across the plane, toward the center. "Guys, that tower over there is as close to Mephisto as anything. If Bobbi is here, then that is where she is. And that is where we are going." With grim determination, Hawkeye climbed the ravine, and set off toward Mephisto's citadel.

USAgent and the Swordsman watched him for a moment, then the Swordsman said, "C'mon Agent. If we are going to die here, we might as well go right to the source and get it over with." He climed up the ravine and followed Hawkeye. A moment later, the Agent shrugged and followed.

Stephen Strange's astral form flew across the barren, hellish wastes of Mephisto's plain. When rendered unconscious by Azreax's blow, he immediately seperated his astral self from his body and set off in search of Mockingbird. In this state, only the most powerful in this realm could detect him, and he hoped that those few would be distracted into chasing the fleeing heroes.

So far his flight had been uneventful. He had seen no sign of demonic pursuit. Unfortunately, he had also not seen any sign of Mockingbird, even though he could cover much more ground in this form than if he were corporeal.

His thoughts were ever turned to Mephisto's ebon citadel. He knew it was a strong possibility that if Mockingbird's soul were here, thats was where it was. Finally, after hours of searching, he decided to head for the citadel and find out one way or another.

Mephisto sat in his citadel on his dark throne. He stretched out his senses across his realm searching for the heroes while Azreax and his entourage physically searched for them as well. So far however, all his efforts had been for naught.

"Where can they be?" he mused "I know they are still within my realm, for I have closed off all exits from the plane with guards, and I keep my senses attuned to them all. The only way out is the portal right here in my very own throne room."

He got up and paced back and forth "Still, nothing! No sign of them anywhere!" He mentally contacted his general. "Azreax! Report!"

A voice spoke back into his own mind. My lord, we continue the search. We have followed their trail into a ravine, but it seems to have ended there. We have yet to ascertain which direction they have since went.

Mephisto growled low and menacingly. "Find them, Azreax. My patience is wearing quickly thin. Find them or I will rip your heart out from you body, and CRUSH IT IN MY FIST!!"

The voice spoke back into his mind. My lord, I swear it will be done!

It amused Mephisto to have a forest surrounding his citadel. Of course, this was no ordinary forest. The tress were mockeries of what they should be. Twisted and warped to the point they should have died, yet they live on. The very branches shiver in agony. Sap, which looked and smelled like blood, ran from the trunks of the trees and covered the forest floor. This created a thick and sticky goo which caught most everything that walked across it eventually.

It is in this forest that Hawkeye and his companions now find themselves. Walking through the goo has left even the Agent exhausted as they continually have to force themselves to keep moving to avoid being stuck forever.

Finally, the end of the forest came, and the three looked out from the edge of the forest onto the Citadel of Mephisto.

"Nice looking place." said the Agent, sarcastically. "Like the motif, early torture-chamber."

Hawkeye scowled "Something is wrong. I would expect this place to be crawling with guards, but there is no one."

"Lets not look a gift-horse in the mouth, Hawkeye." said the Swordsman "We should take this opportunity to climb the walls and get in before we are noticed. We should be able to reach one of the lower windows without too much trouble."

"I still don't like it, but we're not doing any good out here. Let's get moving." The three started out toward the tower.

Suddenly, the unconscious form of Dr. Strange moved in the Agent's arms. "Ohhhh....." he said, rubbing his jaw. The Agent set him down on the ground.

"Doc!" said Hawkeye "Are you alright? I was beginning to think you might be dead."

Strange blinked his eyes a few times. "The way my head feels, death seems almost a preferable option." he rose slowly to his feet. "I'm glad I returned to my body when I did, gentlemen. Though right now my body is protesting against it... I saw you approching the citadel as I was at the same time. If you had stepped out into the open just now, Mephisto would have been immediately alerted to your prescence."

"You mean to say that you left your body, Doctor?" asked the Swordsman.

"That's correct. When the demon struck me, I left my body and went in search of Mockingbird in astral form, trusting that you would lead pursuit away from me in that state. I am glad to see that you have avoided capture. I assume that since I found you here that you three came to the same conclusion as I."

"That's right." said Hawkeye. "If Bobbi is anywhere, it's here and I'm going in to find her."

"Yes of course," said Strange "but to just walk up to the citadel and try to get in is to invite suicide. I have a somewhat better idea. If only I can get my head to stop pounding long enough to concentrate."

"For long minutes, the Doctor held his fingertips against his forehead. At first, nothing happened. Then, he chanted softly. A heavy fog began to roll across the open space between the forest and the citadel.

"Now," said Strange "while the fog obscures us from Mephisto's sight, we must quickly enter!"

The four raced across to the citadel walls. Hawkeye looked up to a open window some thirty feet above. He pulled an arrow from his bow, aimed and fired. The arrow sped upwards and imbedded itself into the side of the window. The shaft then opened and deployed a long, thin length of rope. Hawkeye scaled the wall first, followed by the Swordsman and the Agent. Strange used his cloak of levitation to enter the window.

The four had entered the Citadel.

NEXT ISSUE: I know, I know! I said last issue that this would wrap up the Mockingbird Saga, but there is just too much! Be here next Month for: Fateful, and Fatal Finale!!

Haranguing with Hawkeye

Send all letters to beezer@webtv.net. Be sure to include "Harangue" in the subject line!

Well, sorry again for last months lettercol debacle. This month, the Avenger Lady saves the day! Lets here what Lonni has to say:

From: lonni@ultratech.net

Okay Scott - you dunderhead - Here's 3 fan letters for the price of one (since your infamous webtv ate all the others.)

Hawkeye 1 -woooooo-hoooooo- You little devil you! You and I are so similar in our views of Clint that it's scary! Since Jim Kruger of Marvel and I plotted something like this in Dec of 96 it's quite bizarre to read it. Of course, I had a few differnt characters in mind - like Khonshu and Cap - but I liked seeing Jack in there. Keep it up - I'm intrigued.

Hawkeye 2 - curiouser & curiouser. Who on Earth (or wherever) did Clint make a deal with this time???? And what kind of peril has he put himself into now???? And how does Phillip figure into all of this??? Can't wait for the next installment.

Hawkeye 3 - You slime!!! How dare you leave me hanging like this for another month! Near as I can tell - there's no way out. Clint and his buddies are gonna die - and this isn't a series, its a 4 issue LS - and Hawk is gonna buy the farm. You better get out of chat and save him - fast.

Haha - seriously - I am really enjoying this. I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve for our beloved beleaugerd bowman. Now stop reading those back issues of WCA and get to work!

from the Great White North-
Lonni (the Avenger Lady)
"Back from the dead, and ready to _party_"
Hawkeye - Avengers Vol.3 Issue 1

Wow! Three letters! I should lose my e-mail more often, eh? But you have questions, I have answers...maybe:

Hawkeye 1: Gee, I hope I can manage a little originality in here somewhere. I would hate to be sued for plagarism!

Hawkeye 2: You will have to wait just one more issue to find out who the mysterious deal-maker is. As for peril, how does walking right into the Lion's Den sound? (Its Clint's specialty you know?) Phillip has a part to play here, to be sure. It just might not be what you expect...

Hawkeye 3: Slime??? Actually as you know by now, this isnt a 4 issue LS. In fact it's a 5 issue LS, but everone still dies in the end... No worries, I'm working a fast as I can to bring everything to a head. Which it does next issue!

Everyone be sure to be here next month as we finish up the Mockingbird Saga, one way or another... -Scott.